Rail anchor



C. G. ERICSQN RAIL ANCHOR Dec. 2, 1941.

' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 20, 1940 6 c. G. Ericson J W Dec. 2, 1941.

-RAIL ANCHOR FiI Led May 20, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet" 2 c. atmcsow32,265,104'

Dec. 2, 1941. G, ERI SO 2,265,104

RAIL ANCHOR Filed May 20, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet s I II A G.EricsonPatented Dec. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES FATE ZZtSJO i T orrics ApplicationMay :20, 1940, Serial N 0. 336,109 In Mexico October "Z, 1939 9 Claims.

This invention relates to rail anchors .ior preventing rail creepage andmore particularly to a two-piece type of rail anchor and the objects ofthis invention are to provide an improved, simple and practical anchorof this type in which the parts are so constructed that they may becheap- 1y manufactured and readily assembled on a rail base, in whichthe parts so engage one another and the rail base that they insurepermanency of application as a unit thereto, and in which danger ofdamage to the rails by derailed wheels or the like striking anchor partsis prevented.

The various features of the present invention and novel combination ofparts are hereinafter described in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which hand;

Fig. 4 a side elevation of the shoe, showing the yoke in section asinitially applied to the shoe;

Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the yoke in its final position;

Fig. 5 a vertical section through part of the rail showing the anchor ofFig. 1 in side elevation;

Fig. 6 an end view of the short hook in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 a detail in section showing the initial differences in curvatureof the throat of the large hook and of the shoe;

Fig. 8 a vertical section, on a reduced scale, of the rail and anchorshown in Fig.5 showing the position of the short hook after it has beenshifted by a derailed wheel;

Fig. 9 a detail of the short hook end of the yoke engaged with :a railbase;

Fig. li) a vertical section, on a reduced scale, on the rail and anchorof Fig. 9 showing the position of the short hook after it has beenshifted by a derailed wheel;

Fig. 11 a vertical section of another modified form of yoke; and

Fig. 12 a detail showing a further modified form of short hook.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indi-cate corresponding partsin the different figures.

The rail anchor is shown as applied to a rail of the conventional typehaving the usual head portion intermediate web 2 and base 3. The railbase has the lower flat face '4, the vertical side edges 5. and theupper sloping face 6, and the rail is shown as resting upon thestationary tie I.

The rail anchor as shown comprises a shoe adapted to fit andembrace anedge portion of the rail base and ayoke adapted to span the rail baseand engage one edge of the rail base and embrace the shoe to lock theparts in place upon the rail.

The shoe as constructed in accordance with the present inventioncomprises an elongated member having a slot formed longitudinallythereof to receive the rail edge, and this slot is formed with an upperjaw 8, extending from one end of the shoe to the other and one lowercontinuous jaw 9 somewhat shorter than the upper jaw 8. The slot has anupstanding rear wall 19, and this rear wall, it should ice noted,increases in thickness from one end "of the shoe towards the tieengaging end thereof to provide a tapered or wedge portion Ii'l which iscurved or rounded in cross-section. This upstanding rear wall extendsthe full length of the upper jaw 8 and is provided with a recess l! toensure positive contact at both ends against the vertical edge 5 of therail base. The lower jaw 9 as is shown, engages the lower face 4 of therail base in intimate contact at both ends but its intermediate portionhas a recess 52 which is introduced to provide free movement of the railundulations under the impact of the trafiic load and ther is also arecess 53 intermediately positioned in the upper jaw 8 for the purposeof additional clearance under conditions of extreme trafiic undulations.All the recesses are slight in depth and the ends of the recesses 12 and53 may be filleted and arranged in staggered relationship to eliminat'epossibility of establishing a line of weakness across the shoe. Whilethe lower jaw 9 is in parallel contact with the underface 4 of "the railbase at its two ends the upper jaw '8 dif- -fers fits inclination fromthe upper sloping surface of the rail base to the extent that the outerterminals of the jaws 8 and 9 are closer to- .gether than the railthickness to provide a pinching engagement between the jaws and the railbase when the shoe is forced into position there on. The shorter lowerjaw 9 reduces the length of contact with the underside of th rail basethereby giving a greater freedom of motion to the wave like motion ofthe rail under the impact of the wheel load. This increases the life ofthe shoe because the short recess 12 permits the flexing of the railwithout danger of damage to the shoe or of loosening it on the railbase.

The tie engaging end of the shoe is provided with a downwardly extendingabutment l5 having a broad tie engaging surface !5, a reinforcing flangeI6, and a stiiiening rib l1.

Having described the construction of the shoe of the present invention,the yoke of the present invention that co-operates therewith as theclamping member will now be described.

In the construction shown in Figs. 9 to 12, the

yoke comprises a resilient body portion l8 adapted to extend under andspan the rail base 3. This body portion is provided at one end with anupwardly extending short hook I9 of which the upstanding portion 29engages the vertical edge of the rail base flange and the inwardlyextending portion 2| engages, in overhanging relation, the upper slopingsurface 6 of the rail base only adjacent the edge 5 thereof. Thisinwardly extending portion 2| of the short hook end as shown in one ofthe preferred forms of the present invention has a modified or reducedportion 22 from a lip 2| which also engages the sloping surface l'i onlyadjacent the vertical edge 5 of the rail base. The depth of the lip 2|is less than the depth or thickness of the portion of the rail baseunderlying the lip so that the mass of metal in the rail baseimmediately beneath the lip is greater than the mass of metal in thelip. The upper surface 23 of the lip 2|*'= is also upwardly andoutwardly inclined whereby if a rapidly revolving derailed car wheel orthe like engages the said inclined surface 23 the lip will be forcedfrom the'upper sloping surface 6 into engagement with the vertical edge5 of the rail base as shown in Fig. 8 or the lip will be damaged. Ineither case, the rail base will not be damaged because the lip will bebroken off before it could be forced through the rail base.

The upstanding portion 2|! of the short hook end |9 is upset in theforging operation and is laterally reinforced at the point 35 so that,when this end is forced into tension transversely in relation to thelarge hook on the opposite end of the yoke the reinforced upstandingportion 29 is capable of withstanding the tensional stresses imposedduring the application process and as may occur under the creepage loadand thus minimize the tension stresses in the overhanging lip 2|.

The opposite end of the body portion l8 has a larger hook 21 adapted toembrace the shoe. The hook 21 comprises a downwardly extending portion32, a throat 30 on the inner periphery of the curved portion 28 and anupper portion 29 which overhangs a portion of the rail base and engagesthe inner edge of the upper jaw 8 of the shoe. The portion 32 clears theunderside of the lower jaw 9. The distance from the inner periphery 39of the large hook end to the upstanding portion 20 or 20* of the shorthook end, is such, relative to the width of rail base 3 plus thethickness of the entering end of the wedged portion H! of the shoe, thatthe steel yoke may readily be placed in its starting position on therail base and the shoe which is tapered at 33 to facilitate this. Theupper overhanging portion 29 of the large hook in its relation to theunderportion 32 and the body portion l8 of the yoke, which engages theunder surface 4 of the rail base, is

such that it is necessary to spring the upper overhanging jaw 29relative to the underlying portion 32 of thehook. In other words, thecurvature of the throat 39 is smaller than that of the wedge portion ||lof the shoe whereby as the yoke is forcibly impelled to its operativeposition on the rail base and the shoe, it is obvious that the innerperiphery or throat 30 of the large hook 21, will be spread tocorrespond to the curvature of the wedge portion Ill This ensures a firmgripping engagement between the upper portion 29 of the hook and theinner edge of the upper jaw 8, and also between the throat of the hookand the wedge portion ll] of the shoe. Referring to Fig. 4 it will benoted that the upper portion 29 of the large hook is distorted laterallywhereby the shoe engaging face of said portion normally liessubstantially parallel to the tapered portion 33 of the shoe. When theyoke is moved longitudinally of the shoe, the above mentioned grippingengagement between the portion 29 of the hook and the upper jaw 8 issuch that the pressure of the distorted portion 29 upon the shoe causesthe distorted portion to be twisted as the shoe engaging face of saidportion follows the contour of the upper edge of the shoe (see Fig. 4Thus not only is the portion 29 sprung vertically but laterally to exerta biting engagement between it and the engaged surface of the shoe. Therecess I3 in the upper jaw 8 will permit the latter to yield slightlyunder the pressure exerted by the hook portion 29 and thus form a slightdepression in said jaw to further resist any tendency of the hookportion 29 to loosen itself from the shoe.

If desired, the short hook is may be provided with the extension 23without having the modified or reduced portion 22 as shown in Fig. 12and the large hook 21 may be provided with an outwardly and upwardlydirected extension 31 as shown in Fig. 11.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the rail anchor of the presentinvention may be readily applied to a rail as shown in Fig. 1 by placingthe shoe by hand in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3 and thenengaging the yoke with the rail by hand so that the hook 21 embraces thetapered end 33 of the shoe as shown in Fig. 4. The operation isthereafter completed by driving the yoke hook 21 along the wedge portionIll of the shoe until the desired clamping action is secured. The

parts may readily be removed from the rail when desired by driving theyoke in the reverse direction.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A rail anchor comprising a shoe formed of non-springy material havinglongitudinally extending upper and lower jaws forming a slottherebetween for embracing one edge of a rail base and having alongitudinally extending wedge portion behind the slot, the lower jawbeing continuous and having a slight recess formed intermediate its endsso that only the ends of the lower jaw contact the lower surface of therail base, the depth of the recess being suflicient only to provideclearance for the traffic undulations in the rail under the impact of apassing load; and a yoke constructed to span the rail base and providedat one end with an upwardly extending portion adapted to engage theother edge of the rail base and provided at its opposite end with a shoeembracing hook adapted to be engaged with the wedge portion to hold theshoe in gripping engagement with the rail base without causing thesurface of the recess to contact the surface of the rail base.

2. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the upperjaw has a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only theends of the upper jaw contact the upper surface of the rail base whenthe yoke is in its operative position on the shoe.

3. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the upperjaw has a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only theends of the upper jaw contact the upper surface of the rail base whenthe yoke is in its operative position on the shoe, the lower jaw beingshorter in length than the upper jaw and the ends of the recesses in thejaws being arranged in staggered relationship.

4. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the slot inthe shoe has a substantially vertical wall for contacting a similar wallon the edge of th rail base, the vertical wall in the shoe beingrecessed slightly intermediate its ends so that only the latter contactthe adjacent wall of the rail base when the yoke is in its operativeposition on the shoe.

5. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 1 in which the upperjaw has a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only theends of the upper jaw contact the upper surface of the rail base whenthe yoke is in its operative position on the shoe the lower jaw beingshorter in length than the upper jaw and the wedge portion, the ends ofthe recesses in the jaws being arranged in staggered relationship, theouter extremities of the ends of the jaws being vertically spaced aparta less distance than the thickness of the rail base prior to applicationof the jaws to the rail base, the slot having a substantially verticalwall for contacting a similar wall on the edge of the rail base, thevertical wall in the shoe being recessed slightly intermediate its endsso that only the said ends contact the said wall of the rail base whenthe yoke is in its operative position, the shoe being formed of softermetal than the rail base and yoke so that pressure applied by the yokeas it is moved along the wedge portion will force the ends of the jawsinto a pinching engagement with the edge of the rail base.

6. A rail anchor comprising a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a railbase and having its back curved and formed as a wedge inclined away fromthe vertical edge of the base; and a yoke adapted to span the rail baseand engage the underside thereof, the yoke having a hook at one endadapted to engage the other edge of the rail base and having a hook atthe other end adapted to embrace the shoe, the shoe embracing hook beingoffset to clear the underside of the shoe, the inner periphery of theshoe embracing hook having an initially smaller curvature than that ofthe wedge so that the free hook is spread upwardly and outwardly toclosely follow the curvature of the wedge for engaging it and the inneredge of the upper part of the shoe without drawing the yoke away fromthe underside of the rail base so that the yoke will exert a firmgripping engagement with said wedge and edge of the shoe.

7. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 6 in which the shoe hasan upper jaw for engaging the upper surface of the rail base, the saidjaw having a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only thelatter contact said upper surface when the yoke is in its operativeposition and the jaw is yieldable under the pressure exerted by the shoeembracing hook to form a slight depression in the upper jaw to furtherresist any tendency of the hook to loosen itself from the shoe.

8. A rail anchor comprising a shoe adapted to engage on edge of a railbase and having a longitudinally extending wedge portion formed on anouter face thereof and inclined away from said edge of the rail base,the shoe also having a tie abutment; and a yoke adapted to span the railbase and provided with a small hook at one end to engage over the otheredge of the rail base and with a larger hook at the opposite end adaptedto embrace the shoe and engage the wedge portion, the small hookengaging the inclined upper surface of the rail base only adjacent theouter vertical edge thereof to facilitate the shifting of 'said hookfrom said inclined surface by a derailed wheel, the small hook beingprovided with an end extending upwardly and outwardly from the portionof the hook which engages the upper surface of the rail base, the saidend extending outwardly beyond the edge of the rail base to be clearthereof and being adapted for engagement by a derailed wheel to causethe said portion to be disengaged from the said upper surface, thecross-sectional area of the small hook being reduced at a point adjacentthe portion which engages the upper surface of the rail base tofacilitate the fracture of said portion or the disengagement thereoffrom said surface should a derailed Wheel strike the upwardly andoutwardly directed end of the hook.

9. A rail anchor constructed as claimed in claim 8 in which the largehook is also provided with an upwardly and outwardly directed endadapted to be engaged by a wheel should it become derailed on the sideof the rail remote from th small hook.

CHARLES G. ERICSON.

